“We will now begin the trial. Belladonna Diete, please step forward.”

The voice of the high priest echoed through the silent courtroom filled with spectators.

Belladonna, whose name was called, rose from the long row of seats and walked to the space prepared in front.

As she approached, the knights standing rigidly opened a low door that came up to their waists.

Passing through the door naturally, she saw the row of priests turning to look at her simultaneously.

Belladonna stood in front of the low table placed in the center of them.

The emperor was seated in a chair with a very high back, a little distance from the table where Belladonna stood.

The aged emperor looked at her with an unreadable expression, raising his cloudy gray eyes.

As she took her place, the high priest spoke again.

“Is it true that you killed Pope Pronens Briel of Astanya?”

“Yes, it is.”

Belladonna answered.

At her response, the people filling the courtroom either sighed or drew in surprised breaths.

The people who had gathered to watch the trial seemed more surprised by her intact voice than by her admission to killing the Pope.

After the murmuring of the people had subsided somewhat, the high priest opened his mouth again to ask.

“Why did you do it?”

After a moment’s consideration, Belladonna calmly replied.

“It was to protect myself, my husband, and the people of the empire.”

Each time she spoke, the murmuring of the spectators grew louder and then quieted.

They seemed unable to properly accept the fact that the Saint, who had lost her voice in exchange for holy power, could now speak.

Of course, it would be natural… Belladonna made a weak expression as she stood in front of the table.

At that moment, someone stood up from their seat and shouted.

“Saint! How is it that your voice has returned?”

“Be quiet! We are in the middle of a trial.”

The high priest opened his mouth to restrain them loudly, but another person stood up elsewhere and cried out.

“What happened to your holy power?”

“Can you no longer heal us?”

“Could it be that you’ve been abandoned by God?”

Questions from people continued endlessly from various parts of the courtroom.

The high priest turned to the emperor with a troubled face.

But the emperor, perhaps curious about the answer to that question as well, took no particular action such as stopping the people or giving orders to the high priest.

“May I speak for myself?”

Amidst the commotion, Belladonna asked the high priest in a small voice. The high priest nodded reluctantly.

She swallowed hard once and then opened her mouth.

“As you all know well, I lost my voice in exchange for tremendous holy power. This was when I was much younger than now.”

At Belladonna’s voice, a brief silence fell over the courtroom.

Looking around at her surroundings focused on her, she spoke in an even louder voice.

“And for unknown reasons, now that my voice has returned, I cannot use my holy power.”

As soon as her words ended, the courtroom became noisy once more.

People began to murmur at the unbelievable fact.

At a time when the Pope of Astanya had passed away overnight, even the Saint could not use her holy power.

They could not help but be very confused and dizzy.

Belladonna stood still in her place for a moment, waiting for the commotion to subside before speaking again.

“Until now, there have been no cases where a saint’s physical defect has been reversed while simultaneously losing their holy power. Therefore, I don’t know exactly what has happened either.”

“So you’re saying you can’t exert healing power now?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Belladonna answered someone’s question.

“Will the confessional be closed too?”

“I think so.”

The person who had asked her the question, seeming to be a nobleman, frowned and could not hide his regret.

Watching the reactions of the spectators, Belladonna felt a strange sense of relief in her heart.

The moment when the heavy secret she had been hiding for so long was revealed was neither as scary nor as frightening as she had thought.

It was just refreshing and comforting.

“Is it possible that your voice was fine from the beginning and you deceived us?”

At that moment, a sharp question flew from somewhere. Following that question, other voices poured out.

“Did you mock us while riding on God?”

“Were you in cahoots with the Pope, Saint?”

What…?

The atmosphere changed in an instant.

Belladonna raised her head in confusion at the directly felt hostility.

People who had just been wondering in bewilderment moments ago were now shouting and getting angry at her.

The high priest restrained such people.

“Please be quiet. The time for personal questions is over. We will resume the trial.”

Despite the high priest speaking in a loud voice, the atmosphere did not easily subside.

Belladonna bit her lower lip hard.

It wasn’t incomprehensible.

Now that many of the Pope’s crimes had been revealed, the imperial people could think that both the Pope they had believed in and his daughter, the Saint, had deceived them alike.

As the courtroom showed no signs of quieting down, the high priest forcibly continued the trial.

“You claimed that the Pope conducted human experiments on commoners, do you have evidence for that?”

“It can be confirmed in the documents found in the papal office.”

As soon as her words ended, a knight standing to the side came out with a bundle of documents.

What he was holding were papers discovered in the basement of the papal office.

Belladonna looked at the papers the knight was holding out with a tense face.

‘Please…’

Definitive evidence that the Pope had injected drugs and mutilated innocent people under the pretext of trying to create saints had disappeared or burned after the Pope’s actions.

The evidence presented by the knight was only indirect evidence.

But there was much circumstantial evidence and suspicion. So please…

The high priest took the papers from the knight and brought them to the emperor.

The emperor, who received the documents from him, looked down at them carefully.

“This is a detailed report of the types and volumes of drugs administered to commoners by the papal side, as well as the timing of administration and the resulting outcomes.”

“Is there evidence that the Pope wrote this himself?”

The emperor who was looking down at the documents opened his mouth.

“We can compare the handwriting with documents he wrote while alive.”

At the high priest’s answer, the emperor frowned.

“Is there a possibility that the document itself was fabricated?”

“We can’t rule it out completely.”

At the emperor’s response, Belladonna took a breath. An uneasy feeling was growing.

The emperor, who handed the documents back to the high priest with a disinterested face, said,

“From now on, we will treat the Pope’s human experiments and Belladonna’s murder of her direct ascendant as separate cases. The Saint’s crime will be punished according to imperial law.”

“Your Majesty, but the reason for the murder is deeply related to the Pope’s actions, and given the circumstances, there is a high possibility it was self-defense.”

“There must be clear evidence that the Pope’s actions were true. Unless evidence comes out, I will punish her as it stands.”

Ah…

Belladonna clenched her fists tightly and bowed her head deeply.

Saying that they would treat the Pope’s human experiments and the murder case separately meant that they would impose a severe punishment on Belladonna for murder, regardless of the Pope’s actions.

“High Priest, proceed with the final sentence.”

At the emperor’s words, Belladonna turned her head to look at the high priest.

Murder of a direct ascendant, especially murder of the Pope, was by no means a light crime.

Maybe I’ll be imprisoned for life, or even face the death penalty. Thinking this, her head began to ache unbearably.

The high priest, who had been pondering for a moment, approached the priests sitting in a row behind and spoke in a low voice.

Given the nature of the matter, it seemed he couldn’t decide alone.

After what felt like a long few minutes, the high priest returned and opened his mouth.

“Belladonna Diete has killed her father, Pope Pronens Briel.

Although she claims it was to protect her family and the imperial people, morally, harming the father who raised her should never have happened.

“…”

“Therefore, the Elineros Empire will permanently…”

“Wait a moment!”

At that moment, someone shouted loudly as the courtroom door at the back burst open.

Belladonna raised her lowered head.

Hazel, who had rushed into the courtroom urgently, was saying something to the knights guarding the trial chamber door.

The knights who heard what he was conveying turned and approached the high priest.

The high priest listened to the knights’ words.

“What’s going on now?”

The emperor, who had been resting his chin on his arm fixed to the chair armrest, asked.

The high priest, who had heard all the knights had to say, opened his mouth.

“The Saint’s side says they have brought new and definitive evidence that can prove the Pope’s crimes.”

“New and definitive evidence…”

The emperor raised his eyebrows as if interested and asked.

“Where is it now?”

“It will be coming in soon.”

As soon as the high priest’s words ended, several people walked in through the open courtroom door.

The spectators began to murmur loudly again as they confirmed the appearance of these people.

Those entering through the courtroom door all had uncomfortable appearances.

From someone who had completely lost one arm to a person feeling their way with a long stick with white cloth tied around both eyes, a person with unknown bandages wrapped around their face, and a person who had lost both legs being carried on Graham’s back…

At this incomprehensible sight, the murmuring of the people continued to grow louder.

“What’s going on now? Since when did the sacred courtroom become a marketplace?”

The emperor frowned and spoke with displeasure.

At his question, Belladonna straightened her back and opened her mouth.

“Your Majesty, these people are the evidence.”

“Explain so that I can understand what the Saint is saying.”

“These are people who miraculously survived the Pope’s cruel human experiments. The Pope had hidden them in a small town in Rablserona and was secretly managing them. He was harboring vain hopes that holy power might manifest in them.”

At Belladonna’s explanation, the emperor carefully looked over the appearance of those who had entered the courtroom.

The sight of each one having a painful part naturally brought up bewilderment.

Belladonna continued to speak.

“Due to the Pope’s drugs, these people lost precious parts of their bodies. These people, who have seen it with their own eyes and experienced the pain firsthand, are the direct evidence that can prove the Pope’s evil deeds.”